Even as civil society members, activists and politicians have been demanding justice for the 19-year-old dalit girl in Hathras who was gang-raped and murdered, the Uttar Pradesh Police claimed that they have uncovered an “international plot” to defame the Yogi Adityanath-led government in the state and trigger unrest.
According to Indian Express, the police registered an FIR against unknown persons under various sections of IPC, including sedition, promoting enmity between different groups, and criminal conspiracy.
A website, justiceforhathrasvictim.carrd.co—which has now been taken down—that has been giving out information about how to stage protest safely, dos and don'ts of staying safe during protests and avoiding cops, has been linked to this alleged conspiracy. According to media reports, Section 67 (transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act has also been invoked in the FIR.
According the state police, the website was used for collecting funds, spreading rumours and organising riots. The site was removed after the service provider that hosted the site received abuse report on the content. The website was hosted by Carrd platform, which has been popular for aiding internet-ogranised protests, including the 'Black Lives Matter' protest and the pro-democracy agitation in Hong Kong.
"The UP government's statements and facts related to the Hathras incident are being forged, manipulated and circulated through social media. Misleading content is being shared with forged logos of media houses," a police officer told news agency PTI.
"Some accused are circulating material that could trigger caste-based conflict and these are serious offences considering the current situation in the region," the officer said.
Earlier, the chief minister had cautioned BJP workers against conspiracies and urged them to expose those who want to incite caste and communal riots. "Those who do not like development, they want to incite caste and communal riots in the country and state and want to stop development," Adityanth was quoted as saying.
He claimed that those who want to gain political mileage out of the Hathras incident are "hatching new conspiracies every day."
The Hathras teen had died of grievous injuries in a Delhi hospital on September 29, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped at her village by four upper caste men. She was cremated in the early hours of September 30. While the family claimed the cremation was carried out against their wishes, the police said the last rights in the dead of the night were held "as per the wishes of the family".
